A Fleet Street Christmas
by Burtonized Lady HellRat
Summary: My first story on the site. Nellie Lovett decides that it is time to bring the festive season to 186 Fleet Street again. Will the holiday cheer bring Sweeney Todd to feel the Christmas joy, or will he forever remain the cold hearted barber that we know so well? Read on to find out, I hope that you enjoy it one and all. Some possible Toddett moments of kindness.
1. Chapter 1

**Decorating**

**Hello all, my name is Burtonized Lady HellRat (obviously), but you may call me Helena if you would like seeing as that is my actual name. This is my first fanfic here and I hope that I can please anyone who sets their eyes on it. This will be a Christmas story, starting shortly before and ending on Christmas Day. Things will start out the same but will the festive season cause an unfamiliar feeling of kindness in the barber? Well, you clearly have to read on to find out the answer. I do hope that you enjoy my story. As other have mentioned that I have seen, I have no ownership over Sweeney Todd or any other characters in relation to him or the musical overall. **

Nellie Lovett and Toby struggled to bring their new Christmas tree through the door of the pie shop. As she had expected, the barber that resided in the apartment space above her had rejected her invitation to join the pair. She had been a bit upset at first, but after a while she and Toby were having such a great time picking out the perfect tree, that she had completely forgotten about the brooding barber.

The two of them balanced the tree and after some work the tree was perfectly situated at one of the far corners of her parlour. The baker smiled broadly before asking Toby if he wanted to help her with all of the decorations. He nodded his head excitedly and followed her to the space where she kept her holiday boxes. "I've been collecting these since I was a girl, plenty of lovely memories in these boxes." She pulled out a small cupcake decoration with a Christmas fairy on the top and turned it over in her hand smiling gently. "This was the first tree decoration that I can actually remember getting. I used to love baking sweets with me mum, I especially loved her cupcakes."

Toby smiled and shook his head. "I've never 'ad one, are they any good mum?"

Mrs. Lovett looked at him with a shocked expression that quickly turned into a smile and a small chuckle. "Oh I am so sorry, would you like to make some for Christmas dear? We can decorate 'em and everything." Suddenly a large grin appeared on Toby's face and he nodded his head excitedly. "Great, I think that I still have me mum's old recipe. She always made the fluffiest and sweetest cupcakes; I could 'ave eaten them all if I had been allowed. Let's just finish the tree first."

Mrs. Lovett watched as Toby looked at each decoration with admiration, she smiled as an idea suddenly came to her mind. She could only keep thinking about her plan as they continued to decorate the tree. She did not even notice when Toby was trying to get the star on the top. "Here love, let me 'elp you out there." She bent down and lifted the boy up so that he could put the star on the very top of the large tree. After everything was done they stepped back and admired their work. "It really is a beautiful tree once it's all finished ain't it dearie?" Toby smiled and his eyes grew as he took in the sight of the tree. He had never really had the chance to have a Christmas tree; no one he had ever known had cared enough to really celebrate. He was so glad to have Mrs. Lovett, even if she wasn't really his mother; she was the best that he could ask for.

Toby noticed that there were still a few full boxes. "Mum, are we going to use these too?" Mrs. Lovett nodded and put her hand on his head. Nellie grabbed the small wreath with the dark red bows around it and carefully placed it above the fireplace. She grabbed her stocking and placed it on the fireplace. Toby looked at the red stocking with black lace and ribbons and turned to face her, "What is this mum?"

Nellie smiled "Why it's a stocking love. You put it on the fireplace and on Christmas morning it's filled with small gifts. She winked at the boy and told him to stay where he was. She ran into her room and came out a few seconds later with a small bag. She took out a stocking and hung it on the fireplace, "I got this one for Mr. Todd, now close your eyes love." Toby obeyed and when she told him to open his eyes again he gasped in shock.

There was a beautiful red stocking with white swirls on it right in front of his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her tightly excitedly. "Oh thank you mum, I love it. Thank you so much!" She chuckled and gave him a small kiss on his forehead. He went over to another box and pulled out more decorations. "Come on mum, let's get the rest up!" Nellie smiled at his enthusiasm and joined him. Before long there was beautiful garland everyone in the lower part of the apartment. Nellie brought the small table which she usually kept at her bedside into the center of the parlour. She carefully laid her homemade doily on the tabletop and placed the poinsettia on top of it.

She took a quick glace up at her ceiling and smiled. "Do you think that Mr. Todd will mind if I put a little something on the staircase love?" Toby shrugged but then quickly shook his head. The man was unpredictable and he could never tell how the barber would take anything, even if it was something as simple and innocent as decorating the outdoor staircase. She shook her head and ruffled his hair. Almost as if she could read his thoughts she said "Oh don't worry love, it'll be just fine. I just want there to be a bit more 'oliday cheer on the outside." She grabbed a long garland with red flowers wrapped around it. She grabbed her red winter coat, her fingerless gloves and ran outside excitedly. She began to wrap the garland around the railing from the bottom step going up, but just as she had reached the middle Sweeney came out and gave her a hard glare. She smiled up at him trying to ignore his expression, "Did you need something Mr. T?"

Sweeney raised an eyebrow at the oblivious joy in her voice. This would be his first actual Christmas without his wife and baby girl, and she didn't seem to care at all. He always did anything that he could to make sure that if he couldn't be happy, she certainly couldn't. He had to admit it to himself. Besides the Judge, she was the only other person that offered him a special extra amount of entertainment when she was miserable. He smirked at this thought but as soon as he saw her smile, his smirk turned once more into an annoyed frown. "What do you think you are doing Mrs. Lovett?"

Nellie moved her arm to show off her progress, "I'm just winding some garland around the railing love, just trying to spread some 'oliday cheer out here. Are you going to decorate your shop at all?" His scoffing laugh gave her his answer instantly. She rolled her eyes and looked at him with a pleading look. "Come on love, it's almost Christmas. Don't have such a rotten attitude about it all; can't you change for even just one day?" He gave her a glowering expression and let out a low, angry growl. She put up her hands in defeat; it wasn't worth starting a fight if this was how he was going to be. "Fine then, would you allow me to finish the garland though? I want it to look at least a bit festive out 'ere." He rolled his eyes but finally just nodded his head and made his way back into his shop. She shook her head in annoyance; sometimes that man could be so stubborn. No, she was wrong, he was always being stubborn. He never listened to anything that she had to say. That is unless it had to do with his victims, her meat pies, the Judge or Lucy. Most of the time when she brought up Lucy though, he automatically stopped her and in some form told her that she was not worthy of bringing up his silly nit of a late wife. She finished winding the garland and stomped downstairs, still in an annoyed huff.

Toby knew that something was wrong the moment that she walked into the shop, he walked up to her and with a concerned look on his face asked "What's wrong mum? What did Mr. Todd do this time?" She shook her head and told him not to worry about it. "Stop it mum, I know you really care for 'im, but you can't always be making excuses for him. Now 'e's gone and made you really upset, when are you going to stop doing this to yourself?" Nellie was going to say something but he spoke up again. "You're too good for 'im mum, he doesn't treat you right and he doesn't deserve any of the kindness you give him."

Nellie looked down at him and smiled sweetly. "That's sweet dearie, thank you so much for worrying about me. There's no need to though hun, I'll be just fine." She pulled him into a comforting hug and he held onto her tightly. She didn't want to admit it because she felt such strong feelings for him. Toby did have a point though, she seemed to do a lot for him and he never seemed to give a damn either way. She knew that she would always give him the benefit of the doubt though; her love for him was too strong. He let go and pointed at one of the windows by the shop's entrance. On the ledge there stood a tall red candle, ready to be lit that evening. "It's beautiful dear; did you put them near all of the windows?" Toby nodded and quickly ran off to look at the festive tree again.

She smiled and walked over to the candle. Picking it up she couldn't help but remember the last time that they had been lit, it hadn't been since Benjamin's last Christmas. In fact, she hadn't celebrated Christmas once since then. She remembered herself and Ben working together to put up the tree decorations while Lucy sat on Nellie's settee with Johanna in her lap. She was pointing at all of the decorations while Johanna clapped her small hands excitedly at all of the different colors. She smiled at the memory of grabbing one of the bells for the tree and bringing it over to the infant. Johanna wouldn't stop giggling every time Nellie shook it and the bell jingled. She ended up giving up and said "'Ere, I can't take it away now, you keep it sweet girl." Ben smiled and Nellie made "aww"ing sounds at the baby's excitement over the small bauble. She could recall her and Benjamin rushing all around to light the candles in the windows at night. She had almost lost the set of curtains at the exact window she was standing by because of that in fact. Suddenly a deep voice broke her out of her daydreaming. Sweeney was staring at her with a confused look on his face. "Huh, what was that dear?"

Sweeney rolled his eyes at the slightly abstracted baker. As always, the bloody woman was not paying attention to him. "I said that I saw you bring the tree in. This is for you to put on it." He shoved a wrapped object into her hand and walked outside once more before she could utter a word. She unwrapped the small decoration and gasped slightly at it. It was the decoration that she had made for him on his and Lucy's first Christmas there, a small ball with a green velvet exterior and "Happy Christmas" spelt out in red sequins. Did he really remember that she had made and given it to him, or did he just think that it was something from his precious late wife Lucy? She did not care much, she was just glad that he wanted her to put it up on the tree now. Just maybe, there could be some hope yet for the self-proclaimed demon barber of Fleet Street.

She walked into the parlour and hung the small ornament neatly on the tree. Toby hopped up and down slightly in excitement. "So mum, can we make the cupcakes now?" He clasped his hands together and grinned excitedly.

Nellie mentally gave herself a small slap. "Ahh, you know love. With all of the decoratin', I forgot about them. Go get your coat on; we can get the ingredients now if we're quick about it. I need to get a couple of others things as well anyway." Toby ran enthusiastically in the direction of his bedroom while Mrs. Lovett backed away to admire the tree a bit. It really was a beautiful tree; she found that she was getting back into a festive mood again. Soon she found herself making her way into her room, humming a cheerful tune along the way. Maybe, with a bit of extra work, this could be a happy Christmas for everyone on 186 Fleet Street.

**I hope that you enjoyed my first chapter; if you did not then I do apologize for that and I will end it all now if you prefer. This is my first so I can only hope that I will progress and become good enough in time. If you did like it then I will be so incredibly happy. I swear, I will grin like the Cheshire Cat at anyone who enjoys this chapter. Anyway, reviews will receive an early delicious Nellie Lovett Christmas cupcake! Just let me know if you want red or green frosting on yours and I'll put in your orders. Please do not take this as a bribe; I just want you all to have some nummy cupcakes. =:3 )~**


	2. Cupcakes

**Cupcakes**

`**Well here is chapter two, as promised. This will be quite a delicious chapter and I hope that everyone is full with satisfaction by the end. Okay, fine, enough bad food puns. As you can clearly imagine, this chapter will be about Nellie and Toby baking cupcakes. Before I start though, I want to give a shout out to some reviewers. So thank you Dark Elizabeth Nellie Lovett, RubyRosette5, Dionne Dance, Dolly Daydreamer and Jjsaywat97 for your kind words and reviews, I hope that you all enjoyed your cupcakes. Of course I don't own Sweeney Todd. Maybe in a few weeks I will wake to find him under our tree, but I am pretty doubtful of that.**

The baker and her adopted son made their way through the bustling streets of St. Dunstan's marketplace. Suddenly he pulled on her hand very tightly and pointed over to a stand that Nellie could not see. "Mum, can I go over there please? There is something that I want to look at." He looked at her with a pleading look in his eyes.

Nellie looked at him with a more worried expression on her face though. "Oh Toby, I don't know if you should dear. It's so busy and I don't want to lose you in this crowd." She saw that he wasn't going to give up easily though so she let out a deep breath. "Fine then, but meet me at the sweet shop as soon as you done. Then we can get what we need for the cupcakes." Toby promised and quickly ran off into the crowd.

As Nellie made her way over to a specific shop she couldn't help but be glad that Toby had gone off. She had planned something and she did not want Toby's curiosity to rise from it. As she entered, the jingle bell above the door cheered happily at her arrival. A smiling woman came in from a back room and greeted Nellie excitedly. "G'afternoon dear, what can I do for ya?"

Nellie smiled in return and began to speak. "Well, I actually wanted to look for some material. I wanted to make something for me son; at least, I consider 'im as my own." The woman nodded and together they began to talk about Nellie's plans. The woman began by showing her some materials. Nellie's eyes seemed to stick to the almost glittering red material right away; that would work perfectly with what she was thinking of. Together she and the shop owner talked as they worked to finish Nellie's craftwork. As soon as they finished Nellie grinned excitedly. "Thank you very much for your time, I do hope that Toby likes this." The woman smiled and agreed and Nellie was on her way after paying the woman for the materials, plus some extra for her assistance. Though it was not needed, it was quite kind of the woman to help her.

Toby turned to face the door quickly as Mrs. Lovett entered the sweet shop. "See mum, I beat you 'ere." Toby smiled at the baker as he sat, taking a bite from the cookie that he was chewing on. "Do you mind if I 'ad one? Veronica just made 'em and asked me if I wanted one." A woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties appeared from under the counter. Her medium length straight black hair was tied into a messy bun on top of her head. Her light pink and white dress almost touched the floor, but her black boots were still partially visible.

Nellie shook her head and walked over to the boy. "Sorry I was late Toby love, I was getting something taken care of." Toby tried to take a peak into the bag that she was holding but she pulled it away just in time. "Sorry dearie but this ain't meant for your eyes for a couple of more weeks."

Toby frowned at her then spun on his chair again to face Veronica, he gave her a sweet smile and she returned it. "He is a sweet boy ma'am; he was telling me all about 'ow you were going to bake cupcakes for Christmas. He seems quite excited about it as well." Nellie kissed Toby on the forehead and walked around with him, looking at all of the different treats on display. "So, what was it you two were needing exactly?"

Mrs. Lovett looked down at Toby. "Well let's see, you want to make them I'm sure right Toby?" Toby gave off a little laugh and nodded. "Alright, so we're going to need some sugar, vanilla extract, the frosting, and green and red colorings. We're also probably going to want to put some little decorations on also." Veronica grinned and went into the back of the shop.

After a few short minutes of waiting she returned with a bag. "'Ere you are, everything that you asked for. Plus, a few extra little treats for decoration. Now, will you be needing any recipes?" Nellie shook her head and thanked Veronica. She paid Veronica for the ingredients and Toby's cookie as well. "No please, don't even worry 'bout that one. Consider that a treat for the dear boy." They thanked her quickly and left the shop, taking their time to get home.

Once they got home Nellie put the bag of ingredients on the countertop in the pie shop. "Alright Toby, do you want to start baking now?" Toby nodded and Nellie smiled. "Great, I just need to leave something in my room." Toby told her that he needed to do the same; they then met up in the shop again. "Alright, let's see now, where is that recipe box?" After a short search she found it and a large grin came to her face when she found the cupcake recipe.

Toby had already found the bowls, trays and had set up the ingredients from the bag. She returned and laughed loudly at his enthusiasm to begin baking. "Well you're already set up and waiting ain't you darling?" He rubbed his palms together excitedly and ran to the back of the counter. "Alright then, let's get the fun started." He helped her get the other ingredients needed and the process began.

It was not long before the pair began to make a mess of the pie shop. There was flour in both Nellie's and Toby's hair. Clouds of flour had resulted in the stuff being on different areas of the countertop and on the floor as well. "Mum, I think we've more flour on ourselves and in the shop than in the cupcake mix." Nellie giggled, took a bit of the mixture on her index finger, and wiped it on his nose. They laughed but soon Toby reached his hand into the bag of flour, pulled out a small amount and rubbed it on her face. Her reply was to first look shocked, then to rub some off of the countertop and return the favor.

Nellie took in a deep breath. "Alright dear let's not get carried away. If we don't keep working then these little treats will never be finished." Toby nodded and they kept working hard to mix everything together. As soon as the mixing was done Nellie smiled and clapped her hands together. "So Toby, 'ow would you like to put the mixture into the pan molds? I'll 'elp you to hold up the bowl if you'd like." He grabbed the bowl and the baker helped to keep it steady as he poured in the mixture. He licked his lips as the mixture slowly went into each and every mold, Nellie giggled at the boy's enjoyment. "So, getting 'ungry already are ya love? Well I'm sorry to say that you will have to wait for a bit." He looked at her with a sad expression on his face but she wrapped her arm around him and pulled him into a hug.

As soon as all of the molds were filled Nellie grabbed onto the pan. "No mum, I want to do it." Nellie gave him an unsure look but only ended up giving in again. "I promise that I will be extra careful going into the bake 'ouse."

Nellie cursed under her breath, she had a perfectly good reason not to let the boy help her now. She had to think of something to keep him from going down there and fast. "Um, actually you can't love. I just remembered that I have something down there and you can't see it yet." Toby's face lit up with curiosity. "Exactly dear, so you stay up 'ere like a good boy and I will be right back." She gave him a small wink and walked off in the direction of the bake house.

She walked down the steps carefully, the weather was getting colder of course, and with that also came the slippery ground. She got to the bottom safely and made her way to the oven. She pulled the door open and carefully placed the pan into the oven. She remembered what Toby had said about never eating cupcakes before; she did hope that he enjoyed them. She knew that she had absolutely adored them when she was a girl. That's when she began to think about him, the barber that was at her current position, two floors above her. She had only made cupcakes twice when Benjamin Barker was still around, but he had always complimented her on them. She couldn't help but smile as her mind wandered back to what she could remember of the last time that he had eaten her mother's old recipe.

She had just finished putting the finishing touches on the cupcakes. She loved the baking of course, but putting on the frosting and decorating them had always been her favorite part, she loved getting creative and adding as many fun and lavish sweets as she could. Suddenly there was a knock at her shop door, she looked up and smiled, her first customer of the day. "Come on in, we're open." The person who came in was not a customer though, but the barber who ran the shop and resided in the apartment space above her own. "I'm so sorry Benjamin, was I making too much noise down 'ere for you and Lucy? I didn't meat to; I just get so excited when I'm baking up cupcakes."

Benjamin shook his head and started to hold up his hand, but stopped when he heard that last word. "Cupcakes Nellie, you're baking cupcakes?" He eyed the cupcakes hungrily and Nellie chuckled. "So I did smell vanilla, I wasn't going completely mad." The baker smiled, shook her head and brought one of the treats over to the barber. He took it from her and took a bite. His small smile turned into a large grin and he finished the cupcake in no time. "My goodness Nellie, you probably make the best cupcakes in the city."

She blushed slightly then nodded. "Actually Mr. Barker, you should be complimenting me mother. It's really 'er recipe; I'm just keeping it going is all." Benjamin smiled at her modesty and nodded his head. "I'm just going to check on the pies, I'll be right back. You can 'ave another if you'd like Mr. Barker, I just want there to be plenty for some customers tonight."

She came back about 10 minutes later and stood shocked at the sight in front of her. Three more cupcakes had disappeared since she had left and Benjamin was sitting lazily against the back of one of the chairs. She grabbed the empty wrappers and threw them down in front of the barber. She was about to explode at him for eating so many, but at the sight of his expression her face softened to one of slight concern. Benjamin apologized for eating so many; in his words they had been too delicious for him to stop. She let out a sigh and helped him to his feet. "It's alright love; I should still have plenty for some customers. Just come with me, I'll get you upstairs. Then I'll come back down and make you some chamomile tea to help settle your stomach. At least you've learned now." He gave off a small laughed then grabbed his stomach in pain. She looked at him with a worried expression, "You poor thing, like a child you are."

Ben grunted and looked up at her with an angry look on his face. "I am not a child Mrs. Lovett; I am a fully grown man."

Nellie chuckled and helped him so that he would not have to work too hard to get up the staircase. "Yeah sure love, a child would never eat four cupcakes in a row to the point of queasiness. She was somewhat relieved when they entered the apartment and Lucy was nowhere to be seen. It would have looked quite improper if Lucy had seen the baker's arms wrapped around her husband, even if it was only to help him. She walked him over to his barber chair, eased him into it and ran downstairs to prepare the tea.

She returned shortly with the tea kettle and a teacup carefully placed on a tray. He turned around to give her a weak smile of gratitude, but soon frowned in confusion. "Mrs. Lovett, where's your cup?" She shook her head and told him that she did not need any. "Well you couldn't expect me to drink it all by myself, I have already had too many of your cupcakes. Go down and get one so that you can help me get rid of it all." She smiled and left his shop once more.

Upon her return she saw that he had already made himself comfortable with a hot cup of chamomile, and was drinking it while looking as relaxed as he could in his chair. She pulled a stool up to his chair and sat down at his side. With a worried expression she asked him "'Ow ya feeling Mr. Barker, any better?"

Benjamin shook his head and winced as another attack of squeamishness came over him. "That's the last time I'm eating cupcakes. They were still incredibly delicious though Nellie, and thank you for the tea. You are a wonderfully kind woman indeed."

Nellie smiled at the barber's words, if he only knew what happened to her when he complimented her so. "Thank you Mr. Barker, though I hopefully doubt that is the final time you'll eat cupcakes. You just won't eat four in one sitting next time is all." She put a gloved hand to his forehead just to be safe. "Nope, it doesn't feel like you have a fever. Just a bit of a stomachache, so a bit of the tea and rest should do you wonderfully." They sat there and drank their tea in silence. At some point Nellie's mind had apparently wandered off (it did happen a lot after all, especially when she was with the barber). As soon as reality returned she saw that the barber was fast asleep, and that the teacup he had been holding was dangly dangerously from his fingers. She smiled at his innocent position and took the cup from him before it could fall, break, and wake the beautiful man in front of her.

The smell of vanilla was all that Mrs. Lovett needed to break her out of her day dreaming. Had she really been standing there with that absent-minded expression on her face the whole time? She chuckled to herself a bit before opening to the door to find that the cupcakes looked to be in the perfect condition for removal. She carefully took out the pan and held it close to her nose, letting the sweet scent of vanilla fill her nostrils before she carried it up to the shop once more. She had not baked cupcakes in so long that she had almost forgotten how delicious they smelled. She could not wait for her and Toby to start decorating them, so she quickly but carefully made her way back up the staircase.

As soon as she came back into the shop Toby ran towards her. "They do look delicious mum, can we decorate 'em now?"

Nellie set down the pan and shook her head. "Sorry love, we 'ave to let them cool first. We don't want all of the decoratin' and frosting to go to waste now do we?" Toby frowned and stared at the tray. "Come now dearie, why don't we clean up while we wait for them to cool. If wee distract ourselves with that then maybe it'll seem like they cool down more quickly."

After they got everything cleaned up Toby ran over to the cupcakes and touched one. "They feel cooler now mum, can we please decorate 'em?" Nellie giggled and nodded her head. They grabbed the now red and green frosting bowls and worked together to spread it on top of each cupcake, making sure to cover the whole top with plenty of sweet and savory frosting. Nellie then grabbed the candy Christmas hats and trees that they had designed together and Toby helped her to carefully place them on top of the delicious frosting.

After they had finished and had done the very last of the cleaning Nellie carefully grabbed one of the cupcakes and handed it to the boy. ""Ere Toby, you have the first taste; tell me 'ow you like it." Toby happily took the cupcake from her and took a large bite out of the fluffy treat. A large grin quickly appeared on his face and a small "yum" came out of his mouth. "So, can I assume that you like it?"

Toby nodded his head and spoke after swallowing the bite. "It's delicious mum, thank you so much for making them." He wrapped his free arm around her and hugged her tightly. Nellie ruffled his short hair and told him that she was glad that he loved it so much. She grabbed one and together they enjoyed the special Christmas treats that they had made together. Nellie smiled at the boy's enjoyment as he took another big bite out of the cupcake. "You were right mum; these are really fluffy just like you said." She thanked him and looked at her own cupcake, remembering just how much she had loved the cupcakes when she was younger. She had certainly made enough, maybe if she set a fair price she could sell them as snacks along with her pies. They would put everyone into the holiday spirit while also giving more money to the business.

Later that night as Toby slept Mrs. Lovett sat tiredly in her chair, drinking tea and reading as a fire burned in the parlour fireplace. This was once of her favorite parts of winter, nights always seemed so much more calming and peaceful to her. The only thing that could make it better was, but it was now, it was snowing! It was a barely visible and light snow yes, but certainly still snow without a doubt. Alright, now she had to admit that the night was perfect. She had always loved the snow, and as she grew older she had learned to appreciate its rare true beauty even more. She was starting to get lost in the falling flakes when she heard a knock at the door.

Sweeney Todd stood outside of the shop, trying his best to hide his frigid appearance as the cold snow fell around him. Mrs. Lovett reached out her hand only to feel his frozen cheek and take it back immediately. "Oh love, you're bloody freezin'. Come in right now before you catch your death out there!" She pulled him into her shop, making sure to close and lock the door behind her. She then led him into her parlour and sat him on her settee. She quietly walked over to the cabinet shelf that held all of her extra pillows and blankets. She grabbed a blanket and walked into the shop to pour him a cup of hot tea. She brought the tea to him and wrapped the blanket tightly around his shivering body. "Now then, I don't want you moving from that spot until you're all warmed up again. I want you staying down here too." Sweeney opened his mouth to protest but she gave him a hard glare. "Now don't you start Mr. T, I'll not have you freeze up there. I wouldn't fancy finding a barbercicle up in your sop tomorrow, it's much too cold for you to stay there tonight." He couldn't disagree any longer she did have a good point, so he just kept quiet.

He did see something that had caught his interest though, and he couldn't help but wonder if they were still as wonderful as he slightly remembered. "So, I saw that you had cupcakes out in your shop. I thought that I remembered that smell from somewhere." She looked at him with a hint of surprise on her face, so he did remember them. She knew that it was silly, but she felt somewhat honored that of all of the things about her that he could remember, her cupcakes were one of them. She asked him if he wanted one and he simply nodded slightly and said "I suppose that I would like one." The truth was that he could more than supposedly want one, but he was no longer the kind to show over excitement over something like a cupcake.

She brought him out a cupcake with red frosting and a tree decoration. He put down the tea and took the cupcake from her. When he thought that she wasn't looking he slightly licked his lips at the sight of the dessert in his hand, but she had and she smiled. So he did remember them, and he seemed to love them just as much as he had used to. He took a small bite and continued to eat it slowly until there were only small crumbs left. She took her teacup and the empty wrapper and brought them back into the shop. When she returned she smiled at the barber and he looked at her quizzically. "So, I guess that you liked the cupcake then eh dearie?"

Sweeney simply let out an annoyed grunt and rose to clean out his own teacup. The baker looked down a bit disappointed at first, but then simply shrugged her shoulders. What was she going to expect from him? He wasn't Benjamin Barker; she could not hope for him to eat four cupcakes in a row again. Even though she could not say that she did not want it to happen again exactly, she had liked caring for him the short while that he was ill. Sweeney Todd never thanked her either, so there was no hoping for that. As for the compliment, the only time he gave her anything close to one now was when she came up with some new brilliant idea for him. Well, if he wasn't going to thank her, then there did not seem to be much reason for her to stick around. Sweeney returned and laid down on the settee. He imagined that this would be the best place to sleep, considering his landlady would not permit him to return to his shop and sleeping in her bed was completely out of the question. "You're off to bed as well Mrs. Lovett, very well then." She was about to walk into her bedroom when he called her name again. "Mrs. Lovett, thank you for the reminder." Nellie turned and gave him a confused glance; he looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "The cupcake was still as, well, it was sufficient."

He still did not smile at her and he did not compliment her as he might have if he was still Benjamin Barker. It was the closest that she was going to get from him, at least for now she hoped. Maybe one day she might get more, but for now that was good enough for her. "Thank you Mr. T, I'm glad that you enjoyed it." She smiled and made her way into her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and made her way over to her bed shaking her head. "Maybe at some point you'll understand Mr. Todd; I will take any slightly pleasant thing you say to me as a compliment." She took a quick glace outside and saw that the snow was still falling lightly, which was just the way that she liked it. She put the book down on her bureau and crawled underneath the warm covers of her bed. She blew out the candle and fell asleep dreaming of the moment that maybe the barber would truly recognize everything that she did for him and just why she did it.

**So there you have it boils and ghouls, as the crypt keeper from "Tales From the Crypt" would say. Chapter two is as complete as Sweeney's right arm is with a razor in his hand. So, can anyone guess what chapter three will be about yet? Hint – I mentioned it twice at the end of this chapter; the shops will be also be closing so that it can be a fun and possibly somewhat childish chapter. So anywhoozles and whatzits, I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Review this chapter and a certain other Johnny character will visit your town and make your "dreaming of a while Christmas" a reality, while magical music plays and ice angels are created. Fare thee well my precious reviewerses! *Random voice* You know that you can't own reviewers, right? Me: Go away; I don't like speaking to you. Theyses all mine, my precious reviewerses! =:3 )~**


	3. Snow

**Snow**

** So because of the time limit that I am giving myself (I hope to be completely done by tomorrow night or Christmas morning at the latest), I have decided to post this and chapter 2 together. I do hope that you enjoy this chapter and that it puts you all in a snow loving mood. I also hope that those that reviewed my last chapter enjoyed Edward's visit. This will hopefully be a fun chapter and I hope that it leaves people well entertained. Of course I do not own Sweeney Todd, if I did there would be no reason to say that. **

Mrs. Lovett woke the next morning to the sound of Toby screaming in her ear. She rose up in bed slowly and let out a small yawn. "What was that love?"

Toby jumped from her bed, ran over to her window and pointed outside excitedly. "It's snowing mum, it's really snowing!" He stared out at the snow that was now falling much more fiercely than it had when the baker went to sleep the evening before. He crawled onto the bed again and moved very closely to her. "What is Mr. Todd doing down here anyway? I saw 'im sleeping on your settee."

Nellie smiled and nodded. "Well it actually started to snow last night dear, and 'e came down to me shop. I refused to let him go back to 'is cold shop, so I told 'im to sleep down 'ere." Toby smiled, she really was the kindest woman that he had ever known. Even though he did not think that the barber would appreciate everything that she did, he sure did. He wrapped his arms around her neck and she chuckled lightly at the boy's sign of affection. "'Ow about we make some breakfast, then since it is Sunday and the shop's closed today we spend the day outside in the snow?" She gave him a wink and he smiled excitedly.

He got off of the bed and jumped happily. "Oh can we mum, really?" She giggled and nodded before pulling off the covers and getting out of the warm bed. He ran out the door to wait for her in the pie shop while she dressed. She walked over to her wardrobe and looked for a nice but warm dress to wear in the cold weather. She finally decided on a light blue one with white lace fringe, it would fit in with the snowy weather perfectly. She pulled on her stockings, the dress and a white corset. She then pulled on her pair of black boots and carefully pinned her hair in her typical messy fashion. She was never the type of woman to wear a proper bun. She found them to be rather boring and annoying to keep in place, she much preferred her messy pigtail fashion. She smiled with satisfaction at her outfit choice for the day.

As she walked past the barber he began to wake up, he rubbed his eyes wearily and looked at her. "Mrs. Lovett, what am I… Oh yes, I forgot. Is it still snowing outside?"

She nodded and let out a slow breath. "'Tis love, and harder than last night. It looks more like a storm out there now love." He rolled his eyes in an annoyed manner, how he hated the snow. As Benjamin Barker he had loved the cold weather. As a boy he had loved playing in it and throwing snow balls around with his friends. When he was older and he had his Lucy with him, he loved watching as it fell and nestled in her waves of yellow hair. She always looked like an angel in the snow, his snow angel. He was Sweeney Todd now though and he seemed to lack joy in many things that Benjamin had loved, snow was no exception. "Come on into the shop love, Toby and I were going to start breakfast." He mumbled but rolled his eyes and followed her into the shop, plopping himself down lazily in one of the booths. He watched as the pair moved around and made the eggs, bacon and toast like they did mostly every morning. Mrs. Lovett pilled some food onto one of the plates and gave the barber a small wink as she handed it to him.

After she and Toby had finished cleaning all of the dishes, Nellie grabbed her hooded coat and bundled herself up before going outside and up to the tonsorial parlour. She knocked on the door and at his quiet acceptance she entered and began speaking. "I was going to ask you downstairs but you left before I could say anything. Toby and I were thinking of going down to the park later when the snow stopped, would you want to join us dearie?"

Sweeney turned around and gave her a look that almost spoke his answer for him. Instead he simply spoke one word, "No." She gave him a pleading look but he only turned away from her.

She came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Come on now love, please come with us. You can't do this to yourself, keeping yourself up here all day and night; it ain't 'ealthy. Get out for a day and enjoy the snow."

Sweeney turned around and gave her an angry glare. "First of all Mrs. Lovett, I will decide what I do and whether it is or is not hazardous to my health. Second of all, I despise the snow. Snow makes me think about my memories and of Lucy; I couldn't care less if the snow disappeared as much as my past has. She gave him the most heartbroken face that she could muster. Partially to hopefully make him knuckle under and also out of pure sympathy for the broken man that she loved so dearly. From the way that he rolled his eyes it was clear that he chose the first as the most probable reason. "Dammit woman, if I say yes then will you please stop looking at me like that?" her pitiful expression quickly turned to one of joy and she gave him a quick peck on his cheek. He winced and let out a disgruntled growl. He grabbed his leather jacket and slowly followed her in the same way that a child might if they did not get the candy bar that they wanted.

As they rode down to the park in the carriage Toby turned to Mrs. Lovett and quietly asked why Sweeney was with them. She raised her eyebrows at him and frowned disapprovingly. "Hush now Toby dear, Mr. T has as much of a right to go as you or I do. I know that the two of you don't get along very well, but you don't have to talk to him." Toby fell against the back of the seat, crossed his arms and pouted at the demon barber. He wondered why the barber always had to ruin everything, but most of all, he wondered what his adoptive mother could possibly see in the angry man that made her want to be with him so much.

As soon as the carriage stopped outside of the park Toby ran out and began to run in the snow excitedly. He constantly looked back to see if the imprints that his shoes left in the snow were still there. The three of them made their way to a small bench and Sweeney carelessly dropped down onto the seat. Nellie shook her head and put a hand on Toby's shoulder. "Come on then hun, we can 'ave a go with this." She patted the wooden sled lightly and he ran ahead of her to the hill where the other children were racing and riding theirs as well. She began to go after him, then turned around and waved to Sweeney to follow. He closed his eyes, let out a long breath and reluctantly got off of the bench.

Once they reached the top of the hill Toby got onto the sled and told the baker to get in back. She climbed on and pushed off with her boots. The pair slid down the large hill yelling excitedly as they gathered more and more speed. When they stopped they climbed off and Toby ran back up the hill again. Once she reached the top with the sled, she put it on the ground and got on the front. She turned her head to face Sweeney and smiled sweetly at him. "Come on Mr. T, sled with me love." She winked at him and he shook his head at her obvious flirtatious action. Suddenly a small smirk appeared on his face and she beamed joyfully at his acceptance to her invitation. When she didn't soon feel his (what she imagined to be) strong arms around her small frame, she turned around to see the barber kneeling behind the sled. "Mr. Todd, you get on this…" She didn't get a chance to finis though as he pushed the sled and she began to race down the hill at a rapid speed. Without any added weight to the back though, the sled was out of her control and she soon found herself face down in the cold snow. Toby screamed out to her and ran down the hill while the demon barber stood at the top, resisting the urge to double over in laughter.

Sweeney finally made his way down to the bottom of the hill. He got close to the baker and said "That is what you get for pushing me into coming here, my pet." He said the last two words in a hushed whisper, causing her to bite her lower lip to keep herself from letting out a shaky breath of delight from his words and his hot breath on her ear. When she brought herself back he was already walking past her. The next thing Sweeney knew, a cold mass had hit him on the back of his neck. He spun around quickly to see the baker standing with one arm crossed over her chest, while the other elbow rested on the back of her hand, holding a snowball in her small gloved hand and a smirk on her soft pale face. She raised an eyebrow at him and snickered wickedly. "Really Mrs. Lovett, that's your comeback? You disappoint me; I thought you would be more creative than that." Toby had run off with his sled and had begun to make friends with some other boys whom he was now playing with. Before he was aware of it, Sweeney was patting a handful of snow into a ball, and threw it at the baker. She shrieked as the cold ball hit her on the front of her winter coat and she ran off. She hid behind a tree and turned to find where the barber was. She leaned against the tree and allowed her mind to wander off to another memory.

A teenage Benjamin Barker and Eleanor Ledall ran around in the same park, enjoying the snow as it fell from the sky. Neither one knew Lucy yet at this point, so it was them and them alone with each other. They had just finished sledding themselves and were now walking and looking at the winter scenery around them. Nellie loved to look at the trees at this time of the year. The twisted and swirling branches gave them an appearance of mystery, but the snow and icicles hanging from them made them look almost fantastical. It always amazed her how unbelievably magical and beautiful everything looked when covered with snow.

She ran over to one of the trees, wrapped an arm around it the best that she could and began to run (almost spin) around it. Benjamin just stood there and watched as she ran and laughed lightheartedly. She stopped suddenly and ran up to the at this point, teenage Benjamin Barker. "'Ey Ben I just got a brilliant idea, why don't we 'ave a spinning contest? Whichever one goes the longest without falling or stopping wins." Ben laughed at her excitement and agreed to her game. She counted down from three and they both began to spin around, remaining close to one another while also giving each other enough room so that one would not spin into the other. Nellie tilted her head up towards the sky and closed her eyes as she felt the cold breeze and snow hit her pale face. Benjamin simply got dizzier as he watched everything spin quickly around him, feeling as if he were stuck in a tornado. He smiled as he heard Nellie giggle joyfully, that was something that he admired about her. Even though they were getting older, she still held onto a sense of childlike wonder, he always felt younger when he was with her.

The contest continued until Nellie felt something, or rather someone, bump into her. She fell to the ground and Benjamin followed her, she laughed even as the snow started to cover her entire back and fall on her curly dark auburn hair. Benjamin looked down at her and smiled, "It looks like we tied Nell, at losing." She laughed and looked at his smiling face. That was when it happened, when it finally hit her. The suddenly intensified emotions she felt when she was around him, her quickened heartbeat whenever she saw him, her inability to resist smiling whenever he smiled at her. She was in love with the boy, her best friend in the world and she was in love with him. He got up and reached out his hands to help her to her feet again. She looked into his eyes, hoping to see a hint of the same feeling. Maybe something telling her that he wanted to hold her, to say that he even simply cared for her. She saw nothing though, nothing except for his typically kind looking eyes. Well, maybe one day it would be different.

Mrs. Lovett let out a sigh as she remembered the beautiful memory; that is until a voice broke through her dreams. "Daydreaming are we Mrs. Lovett?" Sweeney Todd stood next to her now with his elbow resting against the tree. She turned to face him; a blush crawled onto her cheeks, giving her a sweet and even more youthful appearance. He raised an eyebrow at her and let out a small amused "hmm" sound.

She looked at him smiling and spoke. "I-I-I was just, lookin' for ya. Then something distracted me and, yes, I was day dreaming a bit I suppose." He took his hand out from behind his back and showed her the packed snow that was in his left hand. She had almost forgotten about that, she shrieked again and ran away from the barber. He suddenly found that he wasn't even thinking about revenge or anything that he normally thought about right now, it was all about a simple form of snowy revenge against the baker. He threw the snowball and missed Mrs. Lovett completely, who then turned around and openly mocked him for his horrid aim. She bent down and packed a bunch of snow together, drew her arm back and threw the ball as far as she could. A successful hit to his head sent him falling to the ground. Her hands flew to her mouth and she ran over to him quickly.

He was rubbing his forehead when she reached him. He picked up the large pebble that had been hidden within the snowball. "What are you trying to do here Mrs. Lovett, attack me with your secret weapon?" She shook her head and apologized, kneeling down beside the barber and looking at his forehead. Except for a rather large red mark from the impact he was perfectly unmarked. "I think we're done now Mrs. Lovett." She nodded and started to get up, but with a sudden tug on her wrist he had her down on the snow covered ground. Once again, the snow was covering her back and falling onto her curls; she couldn't help but go back to the beautiful memory.

He was also situated above her again, not directly over her as he had been then. He was now to her right, but his face was still over hers, and his dark brown eyes were still looking directly at her face. The thoughts came back to her again, as if she was realizing her love for him all over again. Again she wished for him to hold her, to care for her, to kiss her. He did not though; instead he pushed on her stomach with his left hand and reached for a bunch of snow with his right. "Now this is for knocking me over onto my back." He threw the snow into her face and watched as she whipped her head around to remove the snow from her face, and spat to remove the snow from her mouth. He got up and clapped his hands free of the excess snow. "There, that ought to teach you not to do that again." Unlike his younger self though, this time he simply left her lying there as she imagined how warm his lips would feel against her own. She pulled herself up to a sitting position and stared at him as he continued to walk away from her, and again she found herself thinking, maybe one day it would be different.

That same night Nellie sat in her chair, her face turned towards the crackling fire. She watched as the flames danced and burned, enchanted by the calmness of the fire she began to drift into a light slumber. Suddenly the sound of her shop door opening woke her up; she got off of the chair and slowly walked into the shop. Mr. Todd was at one of the cabinets searching for a glass. "Did you need something Mr. T?"

He nodded his head. "Yes actually, do we have any gin?" She nodded and walked over to one of the cabinets in her parlour; she struggled a bit until Sweeney came in and grabbed the bottle from the top shelf. "Why do you have it in here and up so high my pet? It is not especially convenient if you want a glass. Would you like some?"

She nodded and thanked him. "Well, if I want some I simply 'ave to grab something to hop up onto in order to reach it. Anyway, it is quite convenient. I'm trying to get Toby away from it, 'e really shouldn't be drinking it anyway, you know love?" He nodded and she followed him into the pie shop. "We 'ave to be quiet about it though, we 'ad a busy day and Toby is fast asleep now." He agreed and poured a glass for each of them. They each took a few sips in silence until she spoke again. "So, 'ow was today for you Mr. Todd, was it as bad as you though it would be?" He shook his head and simply told her that it was not exactly terrible. She considered this a compliment, maybe it hadn't been the best day of his life, but it was better than terrible.

Sweeney sighed and leaned back in his seat. "If I can be quite frank Mrs. Lovett, after a while I kind of, forgot." She gave him a quizzical expression. "The Judge, Lucy, Johanna, everything kind of left for a short while. Maybe you were right; I might have needed a day off." She smiled at him and put her hand on top of his which he pulled away immediately. She apologized and he simply nodded in response. Alright, so maybe they hadn't gotten very far, but they were slowly headed somewhere. Plus she had gotten him to have a bit of a fun day, plus she had gotten to spend the whole day with him. This was also an incredibly rare occurrence which she treasured greatly. After a couple more shots had been drunk by both he rose to his feet. "Well, I think that I am done here, goodnight Mrs. Lovett." She nodded and said goodnight to the barber but before he left her turned and said something that made her question if she had really heard him. "Erm, thank you Mrs. Lovett. I just thought you should know that I did have a rather interesting day today." She smiled at him and he gave her the smallest and shortest smile. Almost as if he was smiling but for a short enough time that if need be, he could deny the action altogether. She said another goodnight and they parted ways for the evening. As she cleaned the glasses and put away the gin bottle she couldn't help but wonder. Maybe that tiny hint of a smile was another sign, another bit of hope for her that things would get better between the two of them.

**Whew, another chapter come and gone. I really want to reach my Christmas deadline, so my next chapter will probably be my last. Unless I am suddenly hit with a theme for another chapter and can find the time to finish both in a proper amount of time. Well I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I also hope that Sweeney wasn't too OOC in this. I tried to make some silliness occur between the pair, while he also kept a sense of his normal self. If I did not do well with that, then I do apologize. If I did well, then that's wonderful news. Anyone who reviews this chapter will receive, a giant Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) present from me. It took me a while to wrap them all, not to mention the bloody long fictional human cloning process that had to be performed. I will not be telling anyone what it is though until Christmas. I promise that you will enjoy him, I mean it. Again, thank you for taking the time to read my chapter. Helena loves her precious reviewers, she lovses you alls. =:3 )~**


	4. Christmas

**Christmas**

** Here it is everyone, the last chapter and the Christmas chapter of "A Fleet Street Christmas." I want to thank everyone who took the time to also leave a review for my last two chapters. So this is for The Clown King of Chaos, Dionne dance and DollyDaydreamer, you are all so wonderful for your lovely reviews. This last chapter will go out to the three of you. Of course I do not own Sweeney Todd. If I did then not only would the story change in Nellie Lovett's favor, but let's just, my name would not be Helena Mournis (nudge nudge wink wink). P.S. I was planning this from the beginning but I forgot to mention it in the first chapter. In this story the arsenic killed Lucy instead of turning her into a mad girl; this will be important to the chapter. Now sit back and enjoy the last chapter of "A Fleet Street Christmas." **

Eleanor Lovett sat up in bed and shivered as her warm blankets fell from her torso. She had her nightgown of course, but even that wasn't keeping her warm enough in this cold weather. As soon as she recalled what day it was she leapt out of bed and grabbed the robe that was hanging off of her bedpost. She tied the sash around her waist and snuggled tightly into its warmth. She walked over to her wardrobe and began searching for the perfect Christmas dress. She looked over a green one, it was pretty yes, but it wasn't something that would impress the barber much. She knew that this would be his first actual Christmas without his wife and daughter, and she wanted a good way to distract him a bit like she had a few days ago at the park.

When she got to the very end of her wardrobe, she gasped at the sight of the very last dress. It was a crimson red dress with black lace along the end fringe of the arms and the very bottom of the dress. It also had a beautiful black spiraling design that traveled throughout the skirt part of the dress. The underskirts were also that of a black material. She grabbed it and squealed happily, it was festive and the red color would be just to the demon barber's liking, or so she hoped. She pulled on a nice pair of stockings and the dress. She took out a black corset and tied it tightly, being careful so that there wasn't too much showing but just enough to prove a point to the demon that she loved so dearly. She then moved onto her hair, pulling it into her typical messy pigtails but tying then with white ribbons (like the red ones she wore in by the sea) and letting the curliest curls hang loosely in front of her face. She slipped on her boots and gracefully stepped into the kitchen. Toby was already there and waiting for her, he turned to face her and gasped. "Wow mum, you look really pretty today."

She smiled, walked over to him and pulled him into a hug. "Thank ya Toby darling, happy Christmas." She gave him a peck on the forehead and she walked to the back of the counter. "'Ow about we make something special for breakfast this morning, chocolate chip pancakes perhaps?" He licked his lips and smiled enthusiastically; they got to work right away and sang Christmas carols as they worked.

As soon as they finished Mrs. Lovett placed their empty plates onto the countertop. "Toby, would you mind washing these off? I need to bring Mr. T his pancakes." He shook his head and she quickly ruffled his hair as she went back into her room for her winter coat. She picked up the white coat and slipped it on, then carefully pulled the hood over her head and made her back into the shop to grab the barber's breakfast. As soon as she reached the top of the staircase she balanced the pancakes and the glass of juice between her waist and the side of the building. She knocked on his door quickly and waited before her gave her permission to enter. Any other time of the year the bell above the door sounded perfectly ordinary, but on Christmas there seemed to be an added magic to the cheery ring. Her voice matched the bell's cheeriness as she greeted the barber. "G'morning and happy Christmas Mr. Todd, I brought you up a special breakfast today!" She walked over to the barber and carefully placed the tray in front of him. He looked down to see the chocolate chip pancakes and juice and looked up at the baker, who was wearing a wide grin on her face. She stood and walked towards the window. "Oh Mr. T I just love this day, don't you?"

He grunted, put the tray down on the ground and rose out of his chair. "Actually Mrs. Lovett, I do not! I did when Lucy and Johanna were with me, but those days are long gone and with them went my adoration for this whole ridiculous holiday!" She turned her head to look at him pleadingly, almost as if she was saying _"Please Mr. T, act like this any other day but just not today." _He didn't care what she did or did not say though; nothing could convince him to enjoy this holiday, nothing at all. "Look at all of them down there, the filthy worthless vermin! Running around and embracing each other, feigning an interest in people that they would ordinarily despise. Don't they see they're just wasting their time? The decorations, the cheer, it's all so fucking sick and fake!"

She turned to face him straight on now, her body facing his side. "Gawd Mr. Todd, none of it's fake! People are 'appy because this 'oliday is supposed to be filled with joy and celebration. The only reason you can't see that is because you allow yourself to be bloody miserable up 'ere, brooding away about a dead wife that can **never **come back and a daughter you may never see again! You would rather spend the day with two bloody past memories than two people who are actually here and right below you. To me, that's an even bigger waste of time!"

Now he turned to face her, his look of moroseness was now replaced with one of loathing. He quickly pulled his razor put of his back pocket before she could fully grasp what she had just said to him. He pulled her away from the window and away from the people below; she let out a quiet whimper of pain as he pushed her roughly against the wall. Her eyes grew wide with terror as the blade of his razor met her throat, the hateful look never leaving his face. "Please Mr. Todd, I'm sorry. I should've never said that, I was just bothered is all, I didn't mean it. Please stop it love, you're really 'urting me." He pulled most of the razor away from her throat and pushed the sharp edge of the metal harder against her throat. He was determined not to remove it until he saw red rubies drip from her throat and trickle down to blend in perfectly with the red shade of her dress.

He saw a few precious rubies begin to fall and he removed the sharp object from her throat, her first motion was to let out a long shaky breath and to quickly bring her hand to the spot where his razor had made its temporary mark upon her pale white throat. "Get this through your head my pet. Lucy is my wife and Johanna is my daughter, they will never be a waste of time to me! Now I suggest that you leave before I make that mark any deeper or longer." She nodded and began to make her way back to the door before he called to her again. "Mrs. Lovett, you should wash yourself up first. We don't want the boy getting suspicious now do we?" She nodded and caught the cloth that he had thrown to her. She walked over to the mirror above his desk, wiped away the blood that had fallen and dabbed at her wet eyes. She noticed that he had left more than blood on her neck, there was also a mark that would scar over in short time. No matter about that though, if she was careful she could simply use a bit of makeup to conceal the mark that his blade had left.

She turned around slowly to see if the barber was looking at her. He was not, of course, he was too busy cleaning the blood off of the razor after she had returned his cloth to him. She took a deep sigh and began to walk to the door, then stopped short and turned around slowly, smiling. "It's a good thing you didn't kill me love, because then you wouldn't 'ave gotten the two gifts I have for ya. Then again…" She pointed to the mark and raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe you won't even get 'em now. If you come downstairs and open gifts with me and Toby, I may consider it." He rolled his eyes but reluctantly followed the woman out the door. He had to admit it to himself though; he did find it somewhat intriguing how she could go from fearful to excited in such a short period of time. The woman truly was a bloody wonder, and though he certainly would not admit it to her, he did not deny it as a fact.

They all sat around the Christmas tree, Toby had gotten so excited and had ripped through his gifts first. Sweeney had only bought him a bottle of gin, much to Nellie's annoyance. He simply shrugged his shoulders and told her that he had gotten it before he knew that she had stopped giving it to him. Nellie had bought him a few toys and a couple of books that they could read together. "Wait Toby there's one more for ya, I saved it special." She ran into her bedroom and came back with a small wrapped box. He unwrapped it, opened the box and Nellie grinned as she saw his jaw drop. He pulled out the ornament that she and the shop owner had been working on when the pair went to the market place. It was covered with a red fabric and had his name written on it in a shimmering gold material. He jumped to his feet, hung it on the tree and ran over to give Mrs. Lovett a large hug. She smiled as he hugged and thanked her repeatedly. "Aww, I'm just glad that you like it so much Toby love." He returned to his spot and grabbed another gift at random, seeing that it was Nellie he handed it over smiling.

She took it from him and smiled sweetly at him. "Toby dear, is it from you?" He nodded shyly and she just smiled at him even more. She tore open the paper and put her hand to her heart at what she saw. Inside the box was a pair of beautiful full length white winter gloves with black fringe.

Toby grinned excited and spoke. "D'ya like 'em mum? I know that you like to wear the black fingerless ones, but I wanted to get you some really nice ones for winter." She nodded and thanked him. Telling him that she did like her other ones, but that these would certainly be more proper for the colder weather that they were currently in. She hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek. He pulled the next one out, this time it was Sweeney's turn.

He opened the wrapping paper carefully and looked at it with slight confusion. Nellie let out a sigh and opened the rectangular object for him, revealing two frames that were not identical but that were in the same design as the ones that once held the pictures of his beautiful Lucy and Johanna. "I remembered 'ow you accidentally broke your old one when you were having one of your, moments. So I went out and got you a new one, put the photos back in as well."

Sweeney looked at the double frames and the pictures of his beautiful late wife and child. He turned it over, intently studying each curve and design. He had to admit it; he liked this new one that Nellie had gotten for him more than the other. It was honestly even nicer looking than the other; she must have saved up a fair amount of money to buy it for him. He had to say something; she honestly deserved it from him this time. He looked up at her with a look that on his face that she couldn't quite place. Sadness, well there was a hint of sadness in his eyes, but there was something else in his eyes. She got her answer when he opened his mouth to speak. "Thank you Mrs. Lovett, I've never gotten anything like this." He had stopped talking but he was still wondering something, _"why did she do this for me, I can't say that I deserve it."_ A small blush crept over her cheeks as she reached out her hand to cover his free hand that was not holding onto the frame, but he pulled it away quickly. She smiled at him in a way that was enough to show how glad she was that he liked it so much. He then carefully put down the double frame and asked Toby to pull out the last rounded gift that was under the tree and handed it to Mrs. Lovett.

She shook her head and looked up at Sweeney. "I couldn't love; you didn't need to get me anything." He shook his head and watched as she tore at the paper, she smiled at what she saw. "Well it certainly will come in 'andy, especially since my current one is really starting to fall apart." She thanked him and he simply shrugged in return, not knowing what to say. Suddenly he felt as if what he had gotten for her wasn't good enough. She had gotten him something that she had thought of carefully and had even possibly saved up for considering how nice the frame looked. All he had bought her was something that anyone would get for a baker; he didn't now why he felt this way though to be honest. "Thank you dear, I really appreciate it." She started to bend forwards to pull him into a hug when she recalled what he had done when it was only her hand, so she quickly pulled herself back into a sitting position. "Actually Mr. T, you're not finished yet. I wasn't sure if I should do this or not, but then I just thought about you and what you would want. Maybe it's just something that you need, something that could 'elp you." She had to admit that she was doing it partially for herself, but it was mostly all for him.

He looked under the tree in confusion; there were no other gifts there and waiting to be torn open. "Where is it exactly my pet? There is nothing else under there."

She giggled and shook her head, smiling at him with a sneaky gleam in her eyes. "It's nothing like that dear. It's not a thing; it's more of a… place." He looked at her with a curious look on his face and she looked at with a sad smile on hers. She then crossed her arms and a mischievous gleam came over her eyes. "Now don't even try to get me to tell you where we're going, that's for me to know and for you to find out." He nodded and rose to return to his shop. The last thing he heard before he left was Toby and the baker discussing what book they should start reading.

Sweeney sat in his chair, flicking his favorite razor open and closed as if he were under a trance. He took his finger and slid it down the sharp edge of the blade, smirking wickedly as the silver shone brightly. He held the blade up the hint of sun that was trying to burst through the clouds and stared intently as he turned the blade in his hand. It was his most precious razor and his most prized possession, and **no one** could ever take it from him. He found himself slowly getting more lost in his razor's gleam until he eventually rose and walked over to his box that contained the rest of his precious friends. He carefully placed them down on the ground and hovered over them as he had the first day that he had returned to London.

He did not know how long he had been in that position before he heard a knock at the door, he let out a small grunt of acceptance and the door opened. Mrs. Lovett entered the shop and raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of her. Sweeney was half kneeling, half crouching down and stroking the razors in his box gently. She knew that neither one of them was incredibly right in their heads, but there were some things that he did that even had her worried. "Erm, sorry to break up the moment love, but I thought that we would go now." He cleared his throat and rose quickly, avoiding her gaze to hide his embarrassment from her. He set down the box and slipped his favorite razor into his back pocket as he always did. "Toby's staying here in the shop, so it's just goin' to be the two of us down there. No real reason for 'im to be there anyway, it's mostly for you Mr. Todd."

As soon as they reached the bottom of the staircase and Sweeney saw the carriage waiting for the pair, his curiosity got the better of him. "Would you mind telling me where we're going now my pet?" She giggled and shook her head, enjoying the uncomfortable look on his face. They stepped into the vehicle and Sweeney could only wonder what it was that the sneaky baker was whispering into the driver's ear. He watched as she pointed her finger in different directions as she spoke, clearly not wanting the barber to hear of their destination. The driver nodded and they were off, Sweeney looked at her and she gave him a small wink as they traveled along the cobblestone path. He looked down and saw a few of what he thought were white lily flowers, he took in a deep breath hoping that the woman didn't have some romantic plan for the pair.

As soon as the carriage stopped Sweeney took a glace at their location and his stomach churned with a mixture of fear and melancholia. He turned to the baker and whispered with sadness clearly in his voice, "What are we doing here Mrs. Lovett?"

She put her hand over his and frowned slightly. "I thought that if my words weren't convincing you of the truth of things, maybe your own sight would." He didn't even bother pulling away this time; he just looked back out the window at the dark scene in front of his face. "Love, don't think that I'm trying to torture you with this. I'm just trying to do what I think might 'elp you is all." They both got out of the carriage and Nellie quietly asked the driver to wait, they wouldn't be there for too long. She thought hard as she tried to remember the exact location of what they were looking for. Suddenly she turned to see the barber standing a few steps behind her with a look of disbelief on his face; she had walked right past it. She returned to his side and handed the flowers over to him. She put a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear "I'll be behind ya love, you take all of the time that you need."

Sweeney did not move, he wouldn't even speak. He simply stood there, staring at the stone that had his late wife's name carved into it. After some time he did get down and buried his knees into the cold snow. He opened his mouth but nothing was coming out, he didn't know what to say. He simply laid the flowers down in the snow, the white lilies looking as if they were melting down and becoming one with the white snowy ground. He placed both of his hands on the top of the stone and bowed his head down to read her name over and over in his mind. Only two words ever escaped from his lips as he read the name. Mrs. Lovett listened closely as her love said another woman's name, not only saying it but questioning her as well, as if he expected an answer from the dead woman. "Why Lucy, why" was the only thing that kept coming out of his mouth. Eventually even that shortened down to only one word, "Lucy." He rested his forehead on the stone and soon rose and turned once more to face the baker. She walked up to him with a sympathetic smile and put an arm around him as they walked away from the grave.

As soon as they returned to the shop Sweeney simply got out of the carriage and made his way back up to his shop. Nellie watched him leave her and let out a slow breath, oh well, maybe it had been a bad idea after all. She walked into the shop and Toby came up to with curious questions. "Where did ya go mum? Did Mr. Todd like it, did he thank you?"

She ruffled the boy's hair and smiled slightly. "We just went to visit someone that he knew and hadn't seen in a while. As to your other little curious questions, I don't really know if he liked it and no he didn't." She shook off the bit of sadness that slightly lingered in her voice though and spoke again in a more cheery voice. "Now then Toby, what do you say you come with me and we sing some Christmas carols?" He nodded and followed the baker, feeling slightly annoyed at the barber. Here was his mum doing what he imagined was something nice for him and he didn't even thank her. He thanked for some stupid picture frame but not for that, why did his mother take all of that. He knew that it hurt her, even though she always tried to hide it from the boy. He shrugged it off quickly though, as the cheery sound of the piano filled the shop and they both sang together in unison. Both trying to ignore the once again moody barber who resided in the space upstairs.

Hours went by and the sky grew darker, as did the demon barber's tonsorial parlour, though that was never all that bright to begin with. He paced the floor back and forth, thinking not about revenge but about Nellie's action that afternoon. Why had she done that, why had she taken him to the last place where he would want to be on his first Christmas day without his family? She must have liked to see him in pain, to see him feeling lonely and dejected. That couldn't have been it though; if she wanted him to be miserable she would not have gotten him that other gift or have done all that she did for him. Maybe she was telling the truth, maybe she had just wanted to help him, to convince him of what was real. He didn't have much more time to consider it though, because soon there was a knock at the door. Nellie walked through the door and smiled, "Evening dear, why don't you come downstairs with me and Toby. We were just about to sit down to a nice Christmas dinner, I don't want you to be left up 'ere all by your lonesome today of all days." He tried to protest but knew that she would never give in and she would keep fighting until he agreed. So he simply lowered his head and shaking it, followed her out of his shop and down the stairs to the cheery pie shop.

The three of them ate in silence as Nellie and Sweeney each drank a glass of sherry. When they finished the three of them worked to clean up the mess and all of the plates. Toby noticed the silence that hung in the air and when the opportunity came after they had finished he slipped away to go play with some of the new toys that he had received. The baker poured two more glasses of sherry for herself and the barber; he took it and drank a few large gulps of the cold liquid. Suddenly a large grin appeared on her face; she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on love, come into me parlour and sing wiv' me. Get into the 'oliday spirit a bit love, you 'aven't been in one all day." She pulled him quickly into the parlour and told him to stand next to the piano, telling him that it was the only really proper way to sing holiday songs. She began to play a tune and sang loudly and proudly. She stopped short when she saw that he was not singing along. "Aww come on now dearie, don't be like that. Sing before I force you to be the one to sit at the piano and play."

He grumbled something under his breath but when she asked him what he had said, he quickly changed it around to make it sound like he had accepted her invitation. She began to play the playful tune again and this time he quietly sang along. He left for a bit and returned with the bottle of sherry. He poured them both another glass and drank his in one long gulp. She drank a few small sips and began to play another song. She didn't need some big festive celebration, the fact that the barber was with her right now was festive enough for her. No matter if he was reluctant to do it or not, she still enjoyed his rare and special company.

They sang together for a while longer until Nellie suddenly stopped playing and had turned around, allowing herself to become distracted by the tree. "It's a darn shame that today is almost over ain't it Mr. Todd? Christmas 'as always been me favorite 'oliday ya know. The music, the festive spirit, it almost seems unrealistically fantastical." She looked at him with a dreamy look in his eyes; he looked at her with the same stoic expression that he typically showed.

She shook her head and looked away from him. Just when she thought that she was getting somewhere with the dark and lost man, he seemed to remember who he was again. He cleared his throat so as to avoid an awkward silence and spoke up this time. "I erm, just wanted to thank you Mrs. Lovett. I know that I did not say anything upon our return, but I was somewhat upset at the time as you can imagine. I did not fully understand why you had done it until later, I just wanted to tell you that I do thank you for that and your thoughtful gift earlier this morning." She gave him a large smile and told him that there was nothing to thank, though deep down she knew that he would never know how happy he had made her. She got up from the piano bench and they walked together to clean out their glasses for the night, that was until he heard Mrs. Lovett utter something that made him stop.

"Mr. Todd, where do you think you're gong? Are you trying to curse us?!" He turned around and by the expression on her face he could have sworn that something truly horrible had suddenly happened, but seeing nothing wrong only made him give her an inquisitive look.

With a bit of help from her upward pointed index finger he got the answer to her strange question. He scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. "Mrs. Lovett, only you would be gullible enough for this." She chuckled and moved her hand in a _'come over here quickly'_ motion. He crossed his arms and asked her with an amused expression on his face "Why should I come over there, for what reason?" She stood with her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry Mrs. Lovett, but that is not one bit convincing." After a few more failed attempts he finally walked over to her. "Fine, but will you promise to leave me alone afterwards if I do this blasted thing?"

Her lips curled into a large smile and she nodded her head happily, getting up on her tip-toes to meet his height. He closed his eyes and slowly leaned towards her, hesitantly bringing his lips to meet her own. She brought her hands up to the back of head to keep him from ending the kiss too quickly for her liking. When he found that it was quite impossible for him to stop he decided to pretend that it was Lucy he was kissing instead of the baker. This became difficult after some time though, as Lucy's kissed had always been so sweet and Nellie Lovett's were more forceful. He had to think of some way to stop her, some way to make it so that she would never try something like this with him ever again. He did not hate her of course, but he would never kiss her or accept a kiss from her like he would with his Lucy. Yes he was very aware that she was gone now, but that did not mean that he was fully ready to go one without her though. He wouldn't say that it would never happen, but not just yet.

That's when he felt it; he still held the bottle of sherry in his hand. He smirked into the kiss as he lifted the bottle over her head. She was unaware of his plan, thinking that he was enjoying the passionate moment (at least there was passion to her). She was soon proven wrong though, as the cold wet liquid poured on her head, soaking her hair and part of her dress. She shrieked and pushed him away from her, giving him a hard glare. "Look what you did you foolish man, I'm bloody soaked! Are ye barking mad Mr. Todd?!"

He simply smiled and began to walk away from the shocked and sherry soaked baker. He turned around to say only one thing before making his way into the pie shop to leave the now empty bottle on the countertop, and then to return to his barber shop. "I hope that you had a happy Christmas my sweet Mrs. Lovett."

He walked away from her and her eyes followed him in disbelief. As soon as he had left the shop though she smiled and shook her head chuckling to no one in particular. "'Appy Christmas me love, the best one I've 'ad in years" she said to the air. She turned around and went to grab her nightgown from her bedroom, she was just lucky that she hadn't taken her bath yet. Otherwise his action would have left her a bit more annoyed. As she went down to the bake house to bathe herself she couldn't help but think something to herself once more. Maybe one day it would be different, maybe one day he would want her as much as she wanted him. For now though, his kiss was a good enough experience to go by.

**Well there you have it everybody, the fourth and final chapter to "A Fleet Street Christmas." I know that this was kind of a last minute (quite last minute actually) entry, but I still got it in before Christmas was over. Well, where I live it's still Christmas that is, for half an hour. I did try to get it out earlier, but we ended up staying at a Christmas party rather late. Anyway, I do hope that you enjoyed my story and I am so grateful to all of those who read and reviewed this story. I feel so relieved that my first story got the positive responses that it did, I was a bit nervous at first. So thank you all so very much, you are wonderful people. So tell me now, what was/were your favorite gift(s) that you received for Christmas (or whatever holiday you may specifically celebrate)? Leave it in your review; I would be so happy to see the great things that made people, as Sweeney once said, "full of joooooooy!" **

**P.S. I want to give a special thank you to both DollyDaydreamer and Dionne Dance. Dolly helped me a bit by giving me some helpful hints about mistletoe and Dionne Dance helped me along with Sweeney's prank on Nellie. I hope that I could make you both proud and keep you entertained. So thank you both very much indeed. =:3 )~**


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